India : ‘Power storage services, next in renewable energy sector’

Chairman of the Telangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission (TSERC) Ismail Khan said provisions related to ancillary/capacity services and the regulatory framework for the same need to be incorporated into the new Electricity (Amendment) Bill.

Delivering the keynote address at the ‘Conference on Clean Power and Energy 2016’ jointly hosted by Confederation of Indian Industry and British Deputy High Commission, Hyderabad, here on Wednesday, Mr. Khan emphasised the need to update the regulatory framework to keep pace with technological upgradation in the energy sector.

The Indian government’s ambitious target of achieving 175 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2022 comes with a challenge to the grid security, as the renewable energy is not dependable owing to unpredictable changes in climatic conditions, Mr. Khan said.

Storage of energy is one option to maintain grid security and stability. Development and innovation of storage services will require upgrading of regulatory framework.

While energy storage is not a new concept, and being used for a long time in the form of hydel and gas-based power generation, the time lag in both cases to pump to grid is longer when compared with the battery storage.

As of now, the renewable energy capacity of the country is very low, but as it grows, changes need to be brought in at policy levels. While Andhra Pradesh has taken some initiatives in this direction, Telangana is yet to adopt the technology, Mr. Khan said, and suggested a pilot project for storage of solar power which could serve as model project for future developers.

British Deputy High Commissioner Andrew McAllister, in his special address, spoke of the strides made by UK in the renewable energy sector, and said 13 per cent of the country’s capacity is in this sector. It is aimed to be increased to 30 per cent by 2030.

“As part of the ecosystem that supports the uptake of renewable energy, energy storage solutions are very important as they offer flexibility and reliability to the gird system,” Mr. McAllister said.

Senior policy analyst of the Renewable Energy Association (REA) Frank Gordon, in his address, delineated the technologies of energy storage.